All facts about the draw: Our fate for the European Championship will be decided in this music palace

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Since 2016, it has been the new landmark of the city of Hamburg – and the location for the European Championship group draw on December 2: the Elbphilharmonie. It starts at 6 p.m. in the Musikpalast, SRF info will be broadcast live.

If the event takes place in a music palace, the association bosses and national coaches present also have something to look forward to: the German Music Council is sending three ensembles to Hamburg to provide musical support. According to media reports, in addition to the Federal Youth Orchestra and the Federal Youth Choir, the Federal Jazz Orchestra will also perform. Star violinist David Garrett and tenor Jonas Kaufmann provide extra entertainment. The draw will be moderated by German TV presenter Esther Sedlaczek and Portuguese Pedro Pinto, known from previous draws and football galas.

First of all, of course, because Hamburg is located in the host country Germany. Secondly, the city on the Elbe is one of ten locations in the summer of 2024. In addition to Hamburg, competitions will take place in Munich, Dortmund, Stuttgart, Gelsenkirchen, Frankfurt, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Leipzig and Berlin – the capital will also take place on July 14, 2024, final of the European Championship.

So far, 21 of the 24 teams have been confirmed: host nation Germany (automatically qualified) and the 20 group winners and runners-up from qualifying. The last three starting places will be awarded via play-offs, which will be played on March 21 and 26, 2024. Those who failed in qualifying but scored many points in the 2022 Nations League will end up in the play-offs (for example Estonia with Swiss coach Thomas Häberli). Two semi-finals and one final will be played on three paths (A,B,C), the winner will participate in the European Championships. The semi-final matches on November 23 are:

– Path A: Poland vs Estonia, Wales vs Finland

– Path B: Israel vs. Iceland, Bosnia and Herzegovina vs. Ukraine

– Path C: Georgia vs. Luxembourg, Greece vs. Kazakhstan

Because the FIFA world rankings have no influence on the lottery pots. The only decisive factor is the performance in the European Championship qualification – according to the following criteria: final position in the group, number of points, goal difference, goals scored, etc.

Because Switzerland only took 17 out of a possible 30 points in qualifying group I, it is in pot 4 together with Serbia, Italy and the three unknown countries that qualify via play-offs.

Host country Germany is in Pot 1 and is the leader of Group A. First the other teams from Pot 1 are drawn, then those from Pot 2, etc. If Switzerland is drawn from Pot 4, all three group opponents are already known.

No. Since Russia is excluded from UEFA competitions until further notice due to the war of aggression against Ukraine, the question does not arise whether Ukraine and Russia can meet. The same applies to a possible match between Serbia and Kosovo: Kosovo did not qualify and is not in the play-offs.

Since the field was expanded from 16 to 24 teams (for the first time at the 2016 European Championship), rounds of 16 rounds have been played. This means: The two best teams from each of the six groups of four advance, plus the four best teams in third place.

Source : Blick